Daisuke Yamashita to Coach in Dodgers System

by Patrick Newman (Dec 18, 2008)

Don Wakamatsu won't be the only coach breaking new ground in 2009; the Dodgers have hired former Yokohama BayStars manager Daisuke Yamashita
to coach in their minor league system. From what I gather, Yamashita
will spend most of his time at the rookie ball level in Arizona.
JapanBall has the English-language Kyodo write-up of the news,
but but I think their translation of his quote misses the eloquence of
his original comment in Japanese. So I translated it myself:

"I played US-Japan college baseball at Dodger Stadium,
and 35 years later I have another bond with the Dodgers. This time, I
want to be an asset to the young players aiming for an American Dream."

The only other former Japanese player/coach that has coached in an MLB organization is Denney Tomori.
Denney pitched in the Boston organization in 2005 and re-joined the
team after retiring, but I saw conflicting reports on whether he was a
roving minor league pitching coach or a scouting advisor. Other coaches
have spent short-term "foreign study" programs with US teams as well.

Good luck to Yamashita on his new position, and kudos to the Dodgers for thining outside the box with this hire.